The Loyalists (Rus. лоялисты) are the military who remain loyal to the established Russian Federal government. This term is often used to distinguish between two military forces of the same nationality, particularly during a civil war or revolution in a nation. It is to note that during the events of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 all of Russia is at war with the U.S. upon being misled by the airport terrorist attack in "No Russian" and thus the bulk of enemies are Russian Federation Troops, however, since the Ultranationalists won the fierce civil war in between Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, these troops are only those in favor of the Ultranationalists and their ideals, not the Loyalists. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the Loyalists are a faction based in Northern India, presumably having fled there after the Ultranationalists took over.

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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's single player campaign features Russian Loyalists who are fighting Ultranationalists, a paramilitary force in opposition to the established government of the Russian Federation under the control of President Kroputkin. The Loyalist forces also include special purpose regiment forces called Spetsnaz (Russian for "special forces"). In the single player campaign, the player fights alongside Loyalist forces throughout the game when playing as "Soap" MacTavish of the SAS who helps the loyalists throughout the game. Sergeant Kamarov is the leader of the Russian Loyalist unit that the player fights alongside. The Russian Loyalists appear to be more well-equipped than the Ultranationalists, but for the most part use the same weapons such as AK-47's, AK-74u's, RPD's, Dragunov's and RPG-7's, however, they also use G36C rifles and M9 pistols. Both the Russian Loyalists and Ultranationalists have armor and air support in the form of BMP-2's, T-72's, Mi-24 Hind's and Mi-28 Havoc's. The Loyalists are dressed in Gray uniforms and wear black ZSH-1 helmets equipped with night-vision goggles or Russian ushankas. Russian Loyalists are featured in the single player levels such as "Blackout", "Safehouse", "Sins Of The Father" and "Game Over".

Sometime between the events of the two games, the central government fell to the Ultranationalists. According to Soap MacTavish during the briefing of The Gulag, he mentions that the prison contains the losers from the last war, "...which I swore I thought we'd won." Other than Nikolai, the closest thing to Loyalists featured in the game are soldiers from the Federal Security Service (or FSB), a federal police service. They are shown as a counter-terrorist force, arriving by van to an airport, responding to the terrorist attack at an airport carried out by Vladimir Makarov. These soldiers are armed with more advanced, though still non-Russian equipment. They are capable of using an MP5K and Riot shield in tandem, something the player character can't do. The game features conventional Russian troops and Spetsnaz units, which are part of the vast Russian invasion that devastates the United States and are playable in Multiplayer. They mobilize BTR-80's, APCs, and Mi-28 Havoc's and use a mix of new and old equipment, though like their FSB counterparts they make limited use of Russian firearms. However, all Russian troops in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are, by national loyalty, Ultranationalist, and not Loyalist, as the Russian Federation is now Ultranationalist by majority, and the Loyalists would now be the rebel group, not the group loyal to the country. According to a newspaper found in Makarov's safe-house in Loose Ends, it stated that the Loyalist Government was backed by the United States.

In Modern Warfare 3, the Loyalists are once again seen, but this time as a independent military force stationed in Northern India, where they probably fled after the Ultranationalists gained control of Russia. To generate funds as well as means to survive they operated as a Private Military Company. When Nikolai rescues Price and Soap at the end of the previous game, he takes them to the Loyalist safehouse in India. Loyalist soldiers also appear as allies in the mission Persona Non Grata and Return to Sender. After the war between the United States, Russia and NATO ended, President Vorshevsky started to reconcile with the Loyalists, assuring them that their safety was guaranteed and offering them some key positions for prominent members in the newly established Ultranationalist-Loyalist coalition government. His assurance allowed the Loyalists to safely return to Russia which strengthened the revived friendship and peace between the United States, Russia and NATO with the new Ultranationalist-Loyalist government.

The Loyalists use combat equipment that is of comparable or better quality than their Ultranationalist enemies'. One main difference between the Loyalists and the Ultranationalists is the fact that the Loyalists seem to have a standard uniform that is blue in color; as opposed to the Ultranationalists, whose units use varied uniforms. The Loyalists also make use of night vision goggles and monoculars, which have not been widely seen used by the Ultranationalists, as well as combat helmets. Some of them, like Kamarov, chose to not wear body armor and instead simply use load bearing vests.

In Modern Warfare 3 their appearance greatly changes after their defeat by the Ultranationalists. Instead of looking like a professional army like they once were, Loyalists had to adopt a PMC look in terms of tactical clothing and gear. Because body armor and Kevlar vests are expensive Loyalist troops make due with simple tactical vests, chest rigs and load bearing gear. In terms of vehicles the Loyalists have some Jeep Wranglers at their disposal as well as a UGV. All this would seal these exiled Loyalists as soldiers with no country to call their own.

As seen in some trailers of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, there was going to be a mission or a number of missions where the player would get to play as a Loyalist fighting the Ultranationalists. One trailer featured the player escorting a tank while fighting off Ultranationalists.